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Jan. 27, 2013

NORMAN, Okla. -- Four Sooners walked off the mat with individual victories as the No. 16 University of Oklahoma wrestling team fell to No. 9 Virginia Tech, 22-19, on Sunday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. It was the final match of a weekend that saw OU go 0-2 after it faced two top-25 opponents with VT and No. 14 Lehigh in a span of three days.

With the loss, the Sooners fall to 6-6 in dual competition on the year.

Sunday's dual presented a slew of talent as ten of the country's top-25 wrestlers took to the match, including three bouts that featured top-25 matchups. Both Oklahoma and Virginia Tech had five representatives from that respective list.

The Hokies were on the board first with three team points after a narrow 6-5 decision from No. 8 Jarrod Garnett over Sooner freshman Kyle Garcia.

Although Virginia Tech claimed the first victory, Oklahoma answered with back-to-back wins from No. 9 Cody Brewer (133) and No. 1 Kendric Maple (141) to take a 10-3 lead over the Hokies early in the match.

Brewer secured his fifth-straight dual victory for OU, and sixth major decision of the year when he took down VT's No. 19 Erik Spjut, 12-4. Spjut was Brewer's fifth ranked opponent of his redshirt freshman campaign, who now holds a 2-3 record against top-25 foes.

An undefeated Maple kept his slate clean and improved to 21-0 overall and 11-0 in dual competition after he pinned Hokie Michael Gowen in 2:59. The fall gave OU a lead it would hold throughout two more matches, until VT's No. 5 Pete Yates collected a tech fall over Justin DeAngelis in the 165-pound bout to go up 14-10 over OU.

In the middle-weight matchups, both Nick and Matt Lester took to the mat against two tough opponents in No. 6 Nick Brascetta and No. 7 Jesse Dong, respectively. Nick, the ninth-ranked 149-pounder in the country was unable to grab a win over Brascetta with a 6-4 sudden victory decision, while No. 18 Matt Lester remained scoreless in a 2-0 loss to Dong.

Senior Patrick Graham made an unusual move up to 174 pounds for the Sooners, but managed to total a 3-2 decision over Austin Gabel to put OU within one of VT at 14-13.

The Hokies accumulated back-to-back major decisions in the 184- and 197-matches to separate the gap at 22-13 and essentially secure the win.

Despite the point difference, senior heavyweight Keldrick Hall gave OU its final win of the day after he pinned David Marone in 0:44. It was the second pin of Hall's senior season, and sixth of his career in the Crimson and Cream.

Oklahoma travels to Columbia, Mo., next weekend to face fifth-ranked Missouri on Sunday, Feb. 2, at 6:30 p.m. CT.

#9 Virginia Tech (13-2) 22; #16 Oklahoma (6-6) 19

125: #8 Jarrod Garnett (VT) dec. Kyle Garcia, 6-5                                   VT, 3-0
133: #9 Cody Brewer (O) maj. dec. #19 Erik Spjut, 12-4                          OU, 4-3
141: #1 Kendric Maple (O) fall Michael Gowen, 2:59                               OU, 10-3
149: #6 Nick Brascetta (VT) dec. #9 Nick Lester, 6-4 (SV)                        VT, 6-10
157: #7 Jesse Dong (VT) dec. #18 Matt Lester, 2-0                                VT, 9-10
165: #5 Pete Yates (VT) tech fall Justin DeAngelis, 17-0 (2:25)               VT, 14-10
174: #4 [165] Patrick "Bubby" Graham (O) dec. Austin Gabel, 3-2            OU, 13-14
184: Nick Vetterlein (VT) maj. dec. Matt Reed, 20-6                                VT, 18-13
197: Derrick Borlie (VT) maj. dec. Brad  Johnson, 10-0                            VT, 22-13
285: Keldrick Hall (O) fall David Marone, :44                                          OU, 19-22